Class Warfare
by 14faraday
Summary: Tale as old as time, Clarke is the leader of her people and Lexa the leader of hers. They are forced to work together to bring about peace. But high school is hard enough without having to deal with rivals becoming classmates. Rating subject to change.
Author's Note: This is my first fic in quite a while but I have become complete and total Clexa Trash. This thought hit me about a week ago and I decided to follow the inspiration. I don't have a hard guideline yet, so I am open to suggestions. My initial thought is to keep it from Clarke's 3rd person POV but may switch to Lexa, again open to your thought. Most of your favorites will be making appearances. I don't intend for this to be a slow burn, but it won't be instantaneous either.

I don't own The 100, but my love for Clexa is real.

Clarke wondered if she was dreaming. The situation at hand was too ridiculous for it to be real. She was not sitting in her favorite coffee shop at eight in the morning during summer vacation and being told her world is about to change. Has changed? No, not real.

"Could you repeat that, Kane?"

He gave her a tight lipped smile that told her more than his words did, "Due to financial issues, Arkadia Prep and Polis Academy will be merging."

The words sounded wrong. So, so very wrong. Arkadia and Polis were mortal enemies. Ok, that was a bit dramatic, but rivals in every way two high schools can be. Her counterpart from Polis remained quiet, but Clarke could see in the tenseness of her jaw that she was not overly fond of the news either. Well Clarke doesn't stay quiet just for the sake of it.

"Why are you telling us this?" She turned her attention back to the two adults, Kane her student council sponsor and Titus, whom she assumed played a similar role for Polis.

Titus answered first, "This decision was made a few weeks ago, and the time since has been spent trying to figure out the logistics, how the two schools can merge, which teachers will be staying, how things are going to look and be run. It would be unfair to the students to start off the school year by making them start completely over again, the two student councils will remain more or less intact, but have to work together of course. As new students come things will change of course, but we are not asking either one of you to relinquish your role as leader. However, as leaders, it falls to you to help with the transition, in particular the students. You are the first students to be told and in a few days you and the rest of the student council will meet and start working together."

The decision was made weeks ago? And her mother didn't tell her? She wanted to focus on that, on her mother keeping this from her, but knew it needed to be pushed to the back burner for now. "Are we allowed to tell anyone before then? Or do you want us to spring it on them like you did us?"

Kane let out a sigh and fixed her with an ineffective glare, "You may tell them, but I would prefer if you keep it to just the council members for now. We know this is not going to be easy and want to have a plan in place instead of just 'springing' it on everyone."

"He's right," Clarke quirked a brow, both at the comment and it being the first time Lexa has spoken this morning. "If we let it get out to everyone without thinking it through then the likely hood of someone doing something stupid is a lot higher. If the student body sees that we the council can at least get along then they will take it much better."

Clarke let out a huff, "I'm not saying you don't have a point, but we are going to be walking a fine line, the longer we keep this a secret the less time everyone has to deal with and accept it before classes start up again."

"If they spend the next month knowing this is going to happen but only seeing it as a problem then they will be more bitter because this thing they cannot control has been looming over them without knowing what it means or looks like."

"Great, my fellow President has exactly the opposite beliefs."

"Commander."

"What?" Clarke quirked her eye again and knew she looked completely confused.

"My title is Commander, not President."

Clarke just nodded her head, because at this point what else can she really do? Her world was being turned upside down for her senior year, her mother has been hiding things, and the girl she has to work with refers to herself as Commander.

They only stayed at Grounders for a little bit longer, Kane and Titus trying to explain what they wanted and clearly dealing with their own tension about the matter. Clarke took some comfort in the knowledge they were floundering as well. Mergers are probably never easy, but add in decades long rivalry and it takes on an added bitterness. Lexa had gone back to being quiet and Clarke couldn't decide if she appreciated it or not. The _Commander_ seemed way too serious and stone faced about the whole thing. Clarke prided herself in being able to read people and act accordingly, she couldn't read Lexa and that made her anxious.

She was tossing away her coffee cup when Lexa spoke again, "We should exchange numbers."

Clarke nodded her head and held out her hand expectantly, "Give me your phone, I'll text my number." Lexa did as she was told and Clarke felt certain she saw a flicker of a smile for some reason. "What?"

Lexa took back her phone and gave an almost shrug, "First time in a while a peer has given me an order."

"Sorry about that, I probably could have been a little more polite. Today has just caught me off guard," Clarke paused for a moment, "And I have gotten used to giving orders over the last couple of years."

"As have I. So long as we keep that in mind I don't think we will have too many problems, Clarke." With that Lexa turned and walked out of the coffee shop with the most confident swagger Clarke had ever seen. Clarke knew right then she liked the _Commander_ and thought they could be friends.

Clarke let herself into her best friend's house and was not surprised to see him sitting on the couch in his boxers playing video games. Boys were predictable like that, "Bellamy, if you are going to leave the door unlocked you should consider wearing clothes."

He gave a wide smile but kept his eyes glued to the TV, "If you feel comfortable enough to come in here without knocking then you should feel comfortable enough with me in my boxers, it's the price you pay. Also it helps to keep O out of here and annoying me while I play."

"Fair enough. What's the game of the week?" she flopped down next to him and stole a drink from his Mt. Dew.

"Going back to ol'reliable. Call of Duty"

She cheered him on while he finishes the round. As soon as he saw he had the highest kill ratio of the round he sat the controller down and looked at her expectantly, "Alright Princess, I know you have an open invitation here, but it is before noon, what's going on? Is Wells still bothering you?"

She could not help but roll her eyes, "Even if it was Wells I can take care of him all by myself."

"I am aware, but as your best friend it is my responsibility to make sure stalker exes take the hint and back off. And don't roll yours eyes at me again, I know you scared off more than one girl who I used to date."

"Fine, anyways it isn't Wells. Ok, you have to promise you won't freak out, especially if O is here because I don't need the whole school knowing just yet."

"She already knows you hooked up with that girl Niylah at the beginning of summer."

"Is my love life all you think about? Now I'm starting to be concerned you are the stalker. And we will talk about how she knows later," she fixed him with a glare and he had the good sense to look abashed. "No, this is about school, and some changes that Kane just told me will be happening."

He sat up straight and his eyes went from playful to serious, "What changes?"

Clarke braced for his response before she even tells him, "We all have heard that there have been some financial issues going on, right?" He nodded his head. "So they figured out a way to deal with them, by merging with another school."

"Arkadia is a private school, they can't just merge with anyone. The only other private schools nearby are Mt. Weather and Poli…no. Absolutely not, we are not merging with Polis. That is insane. We hate each other. Last year's football game literally came to blows. And everyone knows even if they can't prove it that Raven intentionally blew up their science lab during competition."

"All true, but that doesn't change that this is happening. This morning Kane and their sponsor Titus sat down with me and their class president, err…Commander, and told us what was going on. They expect us to get our student councils on board and figure out how we are going to get the rest of the student body on board. We are meeting in a week."

He blinked blankly at her, she knew how he felt. "This is not some twisted joke?" She shakes her head. "This is not going to end well."

"No, it isn't going to start well, but we can make it end well."

Over the next couple of days her and Bellamy broke the news to the rest of their friends and fellow student council members. Octavia, the competitive soul that she is, took it pretty hard. Thankfully she was just the Junior class president. Raven had cursed up a storm but agreed she would help with whatever Clarke and Bellamy asked. Monty, Jasper and Miller clearly had their reservations but again agreed to follow Clarke's lead. She avoided telling Wells until he was the only one left. And despite her words to Bellamy and firm belief she could take care of herself, she took her best friend with and made sure the meeting was in a public place.

"Hey Clarke!" her ex smiled widely and she could clearly see the hope in his eyes. Until they slid over to Bellamy of course. The two never got along, and the breakup intensified everything. "Bellamy."

"Wells, like I said in my text, this is about the student council and as vice president Bellamy would be with me."

"Right." He sat down with his drink and tried to bring the smile back to his face but it never reached his eyes.

"Right. So - "

"Clarke." It wasn't said very loudly, but so clearly she had no problem hearing her name being called. She looked up and around until her eyes locked with green ones that were approaching the table. She felt her lips quirk up a little.

"Lexa."

"I was about to text you." Lexa was now standing right next to the table with her undivided attention on Clarke.

"Glad I can save you the trouble. Were you wanting to meet up soon?"

"Yes. I have some ideas on what our next move should be."

"Clarke, what is going on?" Wells interrupted what was turning into a staring contest and Clarke was irrationally annoyed.

"Arkadia and Polis are merging due to money problems, Lexa is Commander of their student council and we are working on helping with the transition. You are now all caught up, that's why I asked you to meet us here, you are free to enjoy the rest of your day. I will let you know when we are having the big meeting." She stood up and turned to fully face the brunette girl, "If you have time now we might as well talk since we are both here."

Lexa gave a nod and a slow blink and Clarke felt like laughing at how solemn the girl looks. Instead she fought it back and turned to Bellamy, "Thanks Bell, I will catch up with you later tonight."

"Sure thing Princess."

Lexa picked a table in the back corner of Grounders and pulled out a chair while looking at Clarke expectantly. Taking the hint, she sat down and looked up over her shoulder at Lexa, "I didn't know Polis students were so chivalrous."

"You're welcome," was the dry response.

Silence descended upon them and Clarke didn't know if she should just dive right into the conversation of if small talk would be a more appropriate way to start. They were going to be spending a lot of time together this year and knowing a little about each other would be a good idea. After another moment she thought back to when they had sat with Kane and Titus, how quiet Lexa had been, and assumed she would need to break the silence.

She was wrong, "That did not look like the smoothest way to tell one of your people what is going on."

Clarke sighed and sagged back in her seat, "I know. But Wells is my ex-boyfriend and he is not taking the ex part very well. Every other week he is trying to convince me to give him another chance. Which is annoying to say the least. That's why I made sure Bellamy could be here, I thought Wells would keep it professional I guess."

"How long ago did you break up?"

"A year ago. Almost exactly actually. Huh, maybe that's why he has been worse than normal."

Lexa frowned and leaned forward, "Worse how?"

Clarke realized she was giving a very bad impression of someone who had once been so important to her, "He isn't violent or anything like that, Wells couldn't hurt a fly. He just, tries to talk to me one way or another a lot. He had stopped on the face to face attempts during school but lately he has ramped it up again."

Lexa leaned back again and her face was neutral once more, "Well if you are not concerned I suppose there is no reason to be."

"He really is harmless, just, hung-up I guess. And I thought Finn had been bad when we first broke up freshman year." The last part was for herself but since she said it out loud Lexa obviously overheard. "We are friends again now, he was my first boyfriend and that is a story for another time."

"As you wish. I was thinking that we should hold some sort of rally before the school year officially starts."

"A rally?'

"I'm open to other suggestions," Lexa said in that dry tone again, "but some event or other before the year begins means less time that the student body has to sit on the information without making them wait so long to hear it. A compromise if you will."

Clarke thought it over. Lexa had a point, and maybe if they could get it to happen on neutral ground… "I think that's a good idea. A rally is definitely the simplest thing we can do, but I don't know how much interaction it would actually bring. Not to mention we are being relocated to the Polis facilities and hosting something there brings its own set of issues."

She watched Lexa take in that information, "We have time to work out the details."

"That and how we are going to tell everyone should be the main things we discuss at the meeting. Word of mouth is not how we want this getting around, but email or something just seems too impersonal."

"There really is not a more practical way," Lexa pointed out and Clarke thought as much about what was said as how it was said. Lexa came across as the type who thinks before she speaks and does not say things if it is unnecessary. It was refreshing and intriguing.

"Probably not, but we should try." It wasn't in her nature not to try, something her mother both loved and hated about her daughter.

Lexa gave another nod, "If that is what you want."

"We have this working together thing down pretty well, don't you think?" Clarke smiled brightly. She really was surprised how quickly they found a rhythm. Neither one tried to talk over the other. They moved past the type of hostility that came with being rivals almost immediately. When Lexa returned the smile Clarke felt proud, she felt certain not many people got to see such a thing.

"I think we should have the student council meeting Saturday afternoon, Clarke. Gives everyone enough of a heads up without putting it off."

"I agree. Should we do it here, or did you have a better idea?"

"I was thinking commandeering a spot in the university library."

"The big bad college kids don't scare you?" Clarke teased.

Lexa gave a full smile this time and Clarke swore internally at how beautiful she found it, "I don't scare easily."

"Just wait until you meet Raven and Octavia." Lexa cocked her head, "They are a handful that can get into trouble in under thirty seconds without trying. People have been known to run screaming after dealing with the two of them, and by people I mean at least two teachers since kindergarten."

Lexa rolled her head to the other side and narrowed her eyes, "Raven Reyes? The one who blew up our science lab last spring?" Clarke smiled sheepishly. "And would the other be Octavia Blake who ran onto the football field last year when the brawl broke out and threw a few punches of her own?" Clarke blushed but didn't break eye contact. "And they are on your student council?"  
Clarke squared her shoulders and bristled at the insinuation that her two friends did not deserve their positions. "Our student council now. Raven is student council secretary and Octavia is the junior class president. They are good people, just…a little much, especially when together."

"Saturday is going to be interesting." Lexa stated while taking a long drink from her mug. Clarke was inclined to agree.


End file.
